FootballGoss praises Villa strike duo

DROITWICH Spa manager Tom Goss had few complaints after seeing his side fall to a 5-2 Midland Combination Division One home defeat against local rivals Fairfield Villa on Saturday but was far from dejected with the performance of his side.

Spa trailed 5-0 at half time but pulled two goals back in a second half when they also had two strong penalty appeals turned down as they fell to a second defeat in the space of a month against their local rivals.

“First and foremost, nobody wants to be 5-0 down in a local derby,” Goss said.

“But I was very calm at half time because sometimes you have to give credit to the opposition and they hit a purple patch during which time their strikers were outstanding.

“The movement and timing of runs was unbelievable and in Stuart Hall and Scott Gaffney they have one of, if not the best, strike partnership in this division.

“I knew we weren’t playing that badly, we just came up against a very good side who are in very good form.”

Ben Brogan netted twice for Spa in a second half which offered encouragement to Goss.

“Six weeks ago I dread to think what the final score would have been given the mindset of some of the players at the time,” he said.

“But we have come a long way since then, and whilst I accept Fairfield may have eased off a little, we showed a great mental attitude to keep going and were rewarded with two goals. If the penalty decisions go our way we could have got even closer but it was not to be.

“There is no doubt the better team won but I don’t think the difference between the sides was as big as the scoreline suggests.

“I was thrilled with Ben and delighted for him getting the two goals, he is an exciting young talent and will go on to be as good as Fairfield’s strikers were on Saturday, I’m convinced about that.”

Spa turn their attentions to the second round of the Worcestershire Junior Cup tomorrow and a trip to Bromsgrove Sporting Reserves (1.45pm).

“They have a lot of strength in their squad at Sporting so we know we are going to be facing a good side,” Goss added.

“But we are on the right path at the moment and it is important we continue along that road and that includes producing a good display again at Sporting.”

SPA Veterans picked up an impressive 4-0 victory against Pershore Vets thanks to goals from Tom Sanders, Dean Tudge, Gareth Brown and an own goal.

Another particularly pleasing aspect of the contest for the side was the important clean sheet kept by goalkeeper Dean Pinner.